14 DAY TRIAL // There’s no surprise here, Android is still the number one mobile platform in the United States, while Apple’s iOS maintains second place.
The NPD Group, a well-known market research company, has just issued its report on the smartphone market from January through October 2011, which states that Android smartphone sales grew to more than half of the U.S. smartphone market up to 53%.
On the other hand, Apple’s iOS share grew as well to reach 29% of the smartphone market, 8% more than last year’s numbers.
“The competitive landscape for smartphones, which has been reshaped by Apple and Google, has ultimately forced every major handset provider through a major transition. For many of them, 2012 will be a critical year in assessing how effective their responses have been,” said Ross Rubin, executive director, Connected Intelligence for The NPD Group.
However, other major mobile platforms like Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry and Microsoft’s Windows Phone fell to critical levels due to the fact that they took important decisions regarding their operating systems.
According to NPD Group’s report, RIM’s BlackBerry smartphone market share dropped to 10% until October 2011 and may drop even lower by year’s end. That’s quite a drop from almost 25% smartphone market share in 2010.
“Few companies have felt the impact of the shift to touch user interfaces and larger screen sizes as negatively as RIM, but the company is beginning anew with a strong technical foundation and many paths to the platform,” added Rubin.
Last but not least, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 struggles with only 2% market share, which is even below Windows Mobile’s 3% market share.
However, the Windows Phone 7’s market share does not count at all Nokia’s smartphones that will make their way in the United States in early 2012, or possibly by year’s end.
